1st Official 'Miss Vietnam' Crowned
HO CHI MINH CITY - After years of official ambivalence, the 17-year-old
daughter of a ship mechanic was crowned ``Miss Vietnam'' in the
communist
nation's first government-recognized beauty pageant Sunday.
Pham Thi Mai Phuong, who won a $3,225 prize, said she'll finish high
school
and enroll in a foreign trade college during her two-year reign.
``I think most people in Vietnam, as in other countries, support beauty
contests, and will have a chance to see that Vietnamese women are not
only
beautiful, but also intelligent and clever,'' she said.
The ruling Communist Party once disparaged beauty contests as a sign of
capitalist decadence, but economic reforms in the past 15 years have led
to
increased Western influence and a loosening of Marxist dogma.
``We acknowledge that this is a significant cultural event which has
broad
support,'' said Bui Quoc Bao, head of the Ministry of Culture and
Information's grass roots culture and arts bureau.
Contestants competed in both bathing suits and in traditional flowing
``ao
dai'' dresses in the pageant, organized by the Communist Youth League's
newspaper, Tien Phong. The pageant was sponsored by Pond's beauty cream.
The newspaper has held beauty contests every other year since 1988, but
without official recognition. Then, the winner was proclaimed ``Miss
Nation
Sponsored by Tien Phong Newspaper,'' or ``Miss Tien Phong'' for short.
The first contest drew less than 200 participants, while this year's
attracted more than 3,000.
The Associated Press - September 23, 2002
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